Trace a Korean taxi by your T-money or Cashbee card

This is the single most reliable way for visitors to trace a Korean taxi — if you tapped a transport card to pay. Every card payment is logged against a specific taxi, so the card issuer can look it up and give you the driver's contact.

If you paid with a T-money card

1. Call 1644-1188 (T-money customer line).
2. Follow the automated menu — press 3 for the taxi lookup.
3. Enter the card number you used to pay the fare.
4. You'll receive the taxi company and driver's contact by text message.
5. Contact the driver or company to arrange pickup.

If you paid with a Cashbee card

Same process, different number: call 1644-1472 and enter your card number when prompted.

Where to find your card number

It's printed on the physical card. If you topped up or registered the card in an app, the number may be saved there too. You need the card you actually tapped for the fare.

What if you paid by credit card or cash?

Card-issuer tracing only works for T-money/Cashbee. If you paid another way:

• Credit card / cash: check your receipt for the company or driver number.
• License plate: call the Seoul Private Taxi Association at 1544-7771 for the driver's mobile.
• Kakao T booking: use your ride history and Kakao T support.

Backup: Police Minwon24 (formerly LOST112)

If the driver has already handed the item in, search Police Minwon24 (formerly LOST112), the police lost-and-found portal, by date, area, and item type.

If it has reached the police

An item a driver hands in appears in Police Minwon24 (formerly LOST112) at minwon24.police.go.kr. How to search it is in the police lost & found guide.

Two things are true wherever the item came from. Nothing appears there for days after the handover, so an early search proves little and is not a reason to stop looking. And the record shows where the item was handed in — the office, depot or station that received it — not where you lost it, so keep the region wide and lead with item type and date.

If Korean is the barrier

1330 is Korea's tourist help line, run by the Korea Tourism Organization. It is free, answers 24 hours a day, and offers interpretation in English, Japanese, Chinese and other languages.

It is not a lost & found office — it holds no items and keeps no database. What it does is interpret, including on a three-way call with a taxi company, a card-issuer help desk or a police station, and explain what a Korean-language page or notice actually says.

If the item is located but you cannot collect it in person — you have left Korea, or the office holding it is hours away — it can be released to someone acting for you with written authorization and their own ID, and shipping abroad is arranged by whoever collects it: here's what that takes.

The exact tracing numbers are also kept in the taxi directory. For the full overview, see How to recover a lost item in a Korean taxi.